Wystwood

62. Lost letters and lovers

Wisps of mist curled around her fingers as Ada reached out, her hand meeting Raeph's in the moonlight. He held tight as he pulled Ada to her feet. The canal softly lapped against its banks, reflections of stars caught between webs of algae. Ada had to tilt her head up to look at Raeph, and was surprised to see a small smile on his face.

"I thought you had all forgotten me," Raeph said, his smile fading.

"We didn't forget," Ada replied quickly, although thinking back to the previous days, she couldn't remember many conversations about Raeph past Yue's sharp words. Trying not to feel guilty she continued, "You were right about the Stone Circle, Raeph. I should have just stayed in the city with you."

Her cheeks flushed hot, even in the cool night's air, but she was glad to see Raeph wasn't looking at her as he cast a glance over his shoulder.

"It's too open out here," he said, now squinting across the canal. "I know somewhere more private."

He turned lightly on his feet, pulling Ada along behind him as he headed towards a cul-de-sac. Ada hadn't realised they were still holding hands, but Raeph's grip was warmer and safer than anything she had felt in days.

They stopped in front of a bakery with a red door, red rain spout, and a flat rooftop. Behind its long windows were bread baskets standing in the shadows, their wicker woven with cow parsley arranged to look like small dustings of flour. In front of the shop was a scattering of crumbs and a stack of empty wooden boxes.

"This way," said Raeph, letting go of Ada's hand as he stepped onto the boxes. "I'll reach down for you from the roof."

His long legs hardly had to stretch as he lifted his arms and grabbed hold of the brickwork above him. He pulled his body up in one go, swinging one leg onto the roof, followed by the other.

"Ok," he said, "take my—Ada?"

Having already climbed the boxes, Ada felt to one side for the rain spout. Keeping it tightly in hand, she balanced a foot on a windowsill and used her other to boost herself upwards. Ada wiggled onto the rooftop, not quite as gracefully as Raeph, but with a victorious puff.

Raeph looked down at her, eyebrows raised above his dark eyes. "You somehow manage to climb buildings better than garden walls."

Ada huffed a laugh, and Raeph's small smile returned, bright against the night's sky.

All of a sudden, Ada felt breathless from the climb. She struggled to her feet, wobbling precariously close to the edge of the roof and jumping forwards a few steps when Raeph reached out.

"So where are we going?" Ada asked, shading her eyes to look out into the city even though it was the middle of the night.

"This way," Raeph said, and Ada couldn't tell if he was still smiling as he turned and pulled himself onto the roof of the building next door.

"Stars sake," she groaned.

Raeph guided Ada across the rooftops of Wysthaven for several minutes. She was sure they weren't travelling very far, but with each building, they climbed higher and higher. When Raeph finally stopped they were not on a rooftop at all, but perched within a small alcove housing only an old, round clock.

"We can talk here," Raeph said, sitting down and swinging his legs over the ledge.

Ada turned around more cautiously, fumbling for the lip of stone beneath her before finally sliding down next to Raeph. For a moment, Ada thought the sky had fallen to the earth, for beneath her lay the stars. Bright white fires were strewn below them, like constellations mapped around her feet. But when Ada leaned towards the stars, the tower of Wysthaven crept into view, the only building reaching higher than their alcove.